Ranking the top 10 NFL players at every position, plus best training camp battles and red flags for contenders

See who made the cut in our position rankings, then catch up on the biggest camp competitions and the flaws that could derail Super Bowl hopefuls Jul 30, 2026 at 12:59 pm ET • 10 min read Hello football friends, and welcome to the Thursday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!This is your final newsletter of the week, so I'm going to remind you now to please hug your family this weekend. Why? Because football comes back next week, so you might not see your family until February. We have the Hall of Fame Game next Thursday (Aug. 6), and one week after that, the rest of the NFL preseason kicks off. Then the regular season will be here, then the playoffs, and before you know it, I'll be writing this newsletter while hanging upside down from the HOLLYWOOD sign as I prepare to cover Super Bowl 61 in Los Angeles. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.Before I cover the Super Bowl, I'll be busy covering training camp in Cincinnati, and that starts today with the Bengals' second practice of the week (you can follow my coverage on social media here). Speaking of training camp, we'll be ranking the top camp battles in today's newsletter, and we'll also rank the top 10 players at EVERY POSITION, so this is a big day. Let's get to the rundown. As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here.1. Ranking the top 10 players at every offensive position Michael Meredith, CBS Sports design This is our final newsletter of July, and we're going to go out with a bang by ranking the top 10 players at every offensive position in the NFL. Zach Pereles rounded up 12 of our experts here at CBS Sports, and they all voted on the best players at each position.We're going to check out the top five quarterbacks before taking a look at the top five running backs. Top 5 QB ranking1. Josh Allen2. Patrick Mahomes3. Matthew Stafford4. Joe Burrow 5. Lamar JacksonThat's right, Patrick Mahomes is not at the top of this list. If this ranking were based purely on postseason success, Allen wouldn't be No. 1, but the Bills QB has been nearly unstoppable during the regular season throughout his career, including in 2024, when he won NFL MVP, so he gets the top spot.Top 5 RB ranking1. Bijan Robinson2. Jahmyr Gibbs3. Jonathan Taylor4. Derrick Henry5. Christian McCaffrey The top two players on this list both sat out practice Wednesday, and it appears they're both staging hold-ins. Both guys want to get contract extensions done, and we likely won't see them on the practice field until that happens. Earlier this week, Ryan Wilson broke down why the Falcons and Lions should be looking to get a deal done as quickly as possible. The guy who signs first is likely going to land a record-breaking contract, only to watch the other guy break that record when he signs his deal. Basically, you want to be the guy who signs second in this situation.As for all of our other top-10 lists, you can check out our rankings for every offensive position here. 2. Ranking the top 10 players at every defensive positionNow that we've ranked the best players on the offensive side of the ball, let's flip things over to the defense. For this part, we're going to check out the top five EDGE rushers and top five cornerbacks as voted on by our panel.Top 5 EDGE rushers1. Myles Garrett2. Micah Parsons3. Will Anderson Jr.4. Aidan Hutchinson5. Maxx CrosbyAlthough we didn't have a single player on the offensive side of the ball who was unanimously ranked first at his position, it happened four times on defense. Myles Garrett, DT Jeffrey Simmons, LB Fred Warner and S Kyle Hamilton each received all 12 first-place votes at their position. Top 5 cornerbacks1. Patrick Surtain II2. Derek Stingley Jr. 3. Devon Witherspoon4. Christian Gonzalez5. Quinyon MitchellIf you want to see how the rest of the rankings broke down on the defensive side of the ball, we've got them here. 3. AFC training camp storylines: Keep your eyes on the Titans' Cam Ward and the Bills' pass rush Getty Images We opened the week by breaking down some of the biggest training camp storylines in the NFC, and since we don't want the AFC to feel left out, we're turning our attention to that conference today. Tyler Sullivan came up with one key storyline for each of the AFC's 16 teams. Let's check out what he had to say about three of them:Titans: What will Cam Ward look like with new offensive coordinator Brian Daboll? How he and Ward mesh throughout training camp will be one of the biggest storylines this summer because if they build a strong rapport quickly, the Titans could be frisky in 2026. That's especially true after Tennessee invested in more weapons for Ward, adding Wan'Dale Robinson in free agency and selecting Carnell Tate with the fourth overall pick in the draft.Bills: What will their revamped pass rush look like? According to TruMedia, the Bills ranked 24th in the league in total pressures (198) in 2025 and 20th in total sacks (36). Injuries and player absences contributed to those lackluster numbers, with defensive tackle Ed Oliver and edge rusher Michael Hoecht both missing time. With both expected back in 2026, they'll join edge rusher Bradley Chubb, who signed a three-year, $52 million deal in free agency, and second-round defensive end T.J. Parker out of Clemson. There's enough talent for this group to become a more serviceable pass rush, if not a strength of the defense.Ravens: Who will win the center job? This offseason, the Ravens watched Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum sign a market-setting deal with the Raiders. They didn't bring in an immediate replacement and instead added a group of veteran free agents that includes Ethan Pocic, Danny Pinter, Jovaughn Gwyn and undrafted rookie Nick Dawkins. Pocic, who signed a little more than a week ago, may have the inside track to the Week 1 job, but he's coming off a torn Achilles suffered in Week 14 last season with the Browns. If he's not ready, Pinter could be next in line, although he has started just 10 of his 77 career regular-season games.There are 16 teams in the AFC, and we've got one big training camp storyline for each of them here.4. Five NFL training camp battles to watch (non-QB edition)When it comes to training camp, QB battles seem to get all the headlines around the NFL, but there are plenty of other position battles worth watching. Jordan Dajani came up with a list of the five most important non-QB battles to keep an eye on. Let's check out three of them: Seahawks battle for RB1 spot. Kenneth Walker III cashed in with the Chiefs in free agency, and Zach Charbonnet tore his ACL just six months ago. So who steps up? First-round pick Jadarian Price may be the favorite to win the job after playing second fiddle to Jeremiyah Love at Notre Dame. Emmanuel Wilson and George Holani are also in the mix. Dolphins WR battle. There's no more Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle in Miami. The Dolphins didn't do much to replace them, either, leaving the most wide-open position battle in the NFL. Malik Washington, Jalen Tolbert, Tutu Atwell, Caleb Douglas, Chris Bell and Kevin Coleman Jr. are all competing for prominent roles.Browns WR battle. The Browns have some young talent at wide receiver, including two top-40 picks from this year's draft (KC Concepcion and Denzel Boston) along with a forgotten second-year speedster who could surprise some people (Isaiah Bond). General manager Andrew Berry has arguably been the best drafter in the NFL over the past few years. Did he find another star this offseason?If you want to know which training camp battles to watch, Dajani has the full list here. 5. Every Super Bowl contender's biggest red flag Getty Images The Rams are the heavy favorite to win the Super Bowl this year, but as we all know, the NFL is unpredictable and being the favorite guarantees nothing. Every Super Bowl contender has at least one red flag that could keep it from winning the Lombardi Trophy.Jared Dubin was kind enough to go through each contender and identify its biggest concern. The top three Super Bowl favorites are the Rams, Bills and Ravens, so let's check out their red flags. Rams: Age/injuries. We had the same potential red flag for the Rams last year and things worked out just fine, but that doesn't mean the same will be true this season. Matthew Stafford is another year older, as is Davante Adams. Both players have injury histories, and while Stafford's back held up last season, there's no guarantee it will again.Bills: Defensive front. For seemingly the 20th consecutive year, it's unclear where the Bills will get high-level pass rush snaps. Greg Rousseau remains the best option on the edge, but he's not an elite pass rusher. The depth beyond him is varying degrees of interesting, but there doesn't appear to be a true No. 1 threat unless Bradley Chubb can recapture his top form (his sack total overstates his impact last year).Ravens: Lamar Jackson's health. Whenever Jackson is healthy, the Ravens are an elite team. See: 2023 and 2024. But he's also missed at least four games in three of the last five seasons, and last year he looked like a severely diminished version of himself while playing through his injuries. Every team is in some way subject to concern about their quarterback's health, but the Ravens are especially vulnerable because of how dependent their offense is on Jackson's unique skill set.Want more red flags? Dubin has them here. 6. Extra points: Could Jadeveon Clowney return to Cleveland?It's been a busy few days around the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything, I put together a quick roundup for you.Browns might sign Jadeveon Clowney. The former No. 1 overall pick could be headed back to Cleveland. Clowney visited with the Browns on Wednesday, and a reunion is on the table if the two sides can agree to a deal, according to Cleveland.com. Clowney, who racked up 8.5 sacks with the Cowboys last year, spent two seasons with the Browns in 2021 and 2022.Taysom Hill out in New Orleans after nine seasons. The Saints have decided to move on from the human Swiss Army knife. The team announced Wednesday night that it won't bring Hill back for a 10th season. Hill was a throwback player who did everything for the Saints. He caught passes, threw passes and ran the ball. He finished his career with 34 rushing touchdowns, 12 passing touchdowns and 11 receiving touchdowns. He was truly one of a kind. Sean Payton loved Hill's versatility, so it'll be interesting to see if the Broncos coach brings him to Denver.Training camp injury report. Injuries are an unfortunate part of training camp, and with all 32 teams on the field, it's almost impossible to keep track of everyone who goes down. To solve that problem, we created an injury tracker. If you want the latest injury news from around the NFL, you'll definitely want to keep tabs on it here.Ahman Green diagnosed with Parkinson's. The Packers' all-time leading rusher revealed this week that he's been battling Parkinson's disease. "Last year, I got diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's," Green said on the "Go Long" podcast with Tyler Dunne. "I had a little bit of the feet twitching when I'm in my sleep and stuff like that. I knew something was going on long before that. I just got a hold of some doctors that I was able to get in contact with, get the diagnostics, get the testing. And finally got it tested January of 2025." Green rushed for 8,322 yards during eight seasons with the Packers. He played 12 NFL seasons overall and also had stints in Seattle and Houston.NFL Rivalries uniforms to be released in late August. The NFL's "Rivalries" campaign is back for a second year, and this season the AFC South and NFC North will each get new Rivalries uniforms. Last year, the eight teams in the AFC East and NFC West unveiled theirs on the same day, and the same thing will happen this year. According to SportsLogos.net, this year's Rivalries uniforms will be released on Aug. 25, so be sure to mark your calendar.